Officials look to broaden broadband
Government board seeks grant to fund feasibility study
With more people relying on the internet due to the pandemic, the Western Connecticut Council of Governments is looking to expand the area’s high-speed, broadband service.
WestCOG, along with several other councils in the state and the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, applied for a grant through
the federal Economic Development Administration.
If awarded, the grant could fund a feasibility study for the rollout of high-speed broadband throughout selected communities in western Connecticut, said Francis Pickering, executive director of WestCOG, an agency that supports 18 area municipalities.
“There is strong interest in improving internet connectivity,” Pickering said. “But we don’t have much of the information we need from municipalities.”
He said a feasibility study would allow WestCOG to gather the data it needs to make a decision on how to proceed with bringing fiber-optic infrastructure to neighborhoods, homes and businesses.
“We don’t know what the cost would be and we don’t know what the cut to revenues would look like, so we don’t have the numbers we need to make an informed decision,” Pickering said. “A large part of the study would be to provide us the information we need to make a smart decision for the future of the region.”
During an April 22 meeting, WestCOG members discussed potentially using the federal coronavirus funds —from the March package known as the American Rescue Plan — for a regional broadband project.
“These funds municipalities are receiving from the federal government may be used on public infrastructure, including public water, public sewer and internet connectivity,” Pickering said. “The discussion at the meeting was essentially whether we should look at using American Rescue Plan funds to advance this, and if so, how?”
Pickering said there’s “some sentiment” that a return on investment may be larger if municipalities work together, so WestCOG is thinking about reaching out to towns to see if any plan to use the federal coronavirus relief funds on broadband, and whether there’s interest in collaboration.
As WestCOG waits to hear about the grant application, Pickering said he’s hopeful.
“We know that broadband infrastructure is a priority of the Biden administration and that the governor’s office plans to commit additional funds to broadband infrastructure — so we’re all on the same page, and that’s very positive,” he said.
Broadband can be wired or wireless, but “the highest quality infrastructure in terms of speed, the fastest infrastructure” is wired fiber-optic, Pickering said.
“It’s the most reliable and the fastest, so it’s really the gold standard,” he said. “Seamless telework, remote learning, big data applications, financial services is done best over wired infrastructure.”
Pickering said wired fiber-optic would benefit the region much more than the DSL and cable broadband infrastructure currently in place.
“We have a lot of people who work in industries that are extreme data users,” he said. “They consume and produce a lot of data and need reliable, high speed connections — and that’s what fiber-optic will get you.”
WestCOG started discussing fiberoptic infrastructure in 2015, but there wasn’t much demand for it at the time, Pickering said.
“It didn’t really gain much traction because the economics just weren’t there — but the demand for [that] has since increased,” he said. “If you look at the uptick of Netflix and the move to 4K, this all requires more data and drives more demand.”
Pickering said the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly accelerated data and internet usage trends, and he expects telework and remote learning to continue long after the health crisis.
“When the pandemic has passed, we do expect to see more in-person work and more in-person learning,” he said. “But we don’t think we’ll ever go back to the way we were.”
A viable, compelling and good substitute for in-person activities requires “world class connectivity,” Pickering said.
“It needs high-speed broadband,” he said.